My moment of mommy-zen

This happened last Tuesday, but I figured it was good enough to share late ...

Over the past 3 years I've felt like I was probably 85% Mommy/Wife and 15% Christi, but after walking into Costco with a screaming child, infant strapped to my chest in a baby Bjorn and a Barney sticker stuck to my ass, I think I achieved 100% mommy.

Thank goodness for good friends who are on sticker patrol ... Staci, I don't know what I would do without you.

Its about time!

For once I'm not the one with the big double chin in a picture!!!! HA!

Out of the mouths of my 3 year old ...

Alyssa was refusing to take a nap this afternoon, so I told her that I would put a movie in while I cleaned up the kitchen and she could have "quiet time". When I asked her what she wanted to watch she replied with "Beauty and the Beast", but her toddler-tongue I could have sworn that she was asking to watch "Boobies". "Boo an Bees" Between watching "Boobies" movie and the girls singing stripper music and Alyssa running around singing "I'm nakey! I'm nakey" while completely naked I'm starting to feel like I'm running a whorehouse instead of a daycare.

End of an era

After Alyssa's 3 year check up this morning she and I went to Build-A-Bear to make a "Binky Bear". I've been struggling with "binky removal" options for several weeks/months ... years, I guess, honestly, but yesterday when I was in Build-A-Bear the saleswoman was telling me about people that would bring their child's binky in and put it inside the bear and then sew it up so that technically they still had it. I thought it was a really sweet idea and fell in love with it immediately, so I bought Alyssa a Bear "charge it" card (gift card),which came with a little box that we named her binky box. I told her that since she was going to be 3 years old on Friday she was a really big girl now and that meant that she would get to have a binky bear, so she put all her binkies (okay 4 binkies ... I wasn't going to have them stuff it with 7+) in her binky box and after a visit to Dr. K's office we were off.

And of course her scrapbooking mama documented the trip. :)

Ready to get building

Stuffing with binkies

Kissing her binkies goodbye (insert mommy's tears here)


Ready to go home

Alyssa's official binky bear (complete with her own binky accessory)

I never dreamed that I would cry when she gave up her binkies, but its just one more sign that my little girl is growing up.

Times they are a changin'

Last night our next door neighbor's kids came over selling various items for a school fundraiser. As I was looking through the catalog they were talking about the "prizes" they could earn from what they sold. Top prize for selling 200 items was a Nintendo Wii. T & J were aiming for 50 items so that they could earn ... are you ready for this ... free text messages to share with their friends. Back in my day I think we tried to earn bookmarks. Or MAYBE a t-shirt if we were REALLY the little salesperson. lol